Approaching the end

I love Brian's self portrait, taken while pedaling on our bike ride Saturday along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes. That's in (on?) the Idaho panhandle. We saw osprey nests and cranes and little chipmunks and a snake and a swimming pool complete with water slide that originated on the side of the house. Ahhh, nature. Haven't seen a bear yet. Maybe in Yellowstone.

After 32 miles on the trail, we got to eat in a small-town restaurant that serves Rocky Mountain Oysters. If I've learned one thing in Idaho, it's that Rocky Mountain Oysters are not found in the seafood department. I didn't eat them. Fried testicles of former bulls. Mmmm.

Speaking of bulls, I recently learned that my Grandma Putthoff HATED the word "bull," so my dad and his siblings had to refer to them as "growley cows." Can you imagine growing up on a farm and not being able to say "bull?" It all evens out, though, because Brian wasn't allowed to say "growley cow."